1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a teatcup magazine for a milking apparatus, comprising at least one first member provided to receive at least one teatcup and a second member provided to support said first member, said teatcup having an opening through which a teat of an animal is introduced during the attachment of said teatcup to the teat. Furthermore, the present invention concerns a milking arrangement comprising a milking apparatus, having at least one teatcup to be attached to a teat or an animal to be milked, and a teatcup magazine. Moreover, the present invention concerns a method of handling at least one teatcup of a milking apparatus, said teatcup having an opening through which a teat of an animal to be milked is introduced.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A milking stall is known in which the teatcups are received by a cleaning device between each milking procedure. Thereby the opening of each teatcup is turned downwards to provide an appropriate cleaning position and to prevent dirt from reaching the interior of the teatcup between the milking procedures. However, this means that the teatcups have to be turned 180.degree. prior to the attachment to the teats. In the case of manual or semi-automatic milking, when the teatcups are attached by hand by an operator, this turning step is time-consuming and consequently influences the efficiency of the milking negatively, especially when the operator has to take care of a great number of animals.
WO 93/00001 describes a milking arrangement including a teatcup magazine, for storing four teatcups of a milking machine, and an automatic handling device provided to grip successively a teatcup from the teatcup magazine and attach it to the teat of an animal to be milked. The teatcups are held in the teatcup magazine with the opening turned downwards. They are gripped in this position by means of a gripping member of the automatic handling device. The gripping member is rotatably connected to a movable arm of the automatic handling device. A teatcup after being gripped is rotated so that the opening is turned upwards. Thereafter, the teatcup may be attached to a teat of the animal. Such an arrangement has the disadvantage that the movement to be performed by the automatic handling device is relatively complex, and hence requires a great number of movable parts and a sophisticated control system to be realized. Such rotatable gripping member becomes heavy, making it more difficult to obtain a precise positioning of the teaccup during the attachment to the teat.
EP-A-213 660 is another prior art document disclosing an arrangement for automatic milking of cows. An automatic handling device is provided with a robot arm having a gripping member arranged to grip a teatcup from a washing position where the opening of the teatcup is turned downwards. After being gripped the teatcup is rotated so that the opening is turned upwards and thereafter the teatcup is attached to the teat of a cow. Moreover, EP-A-213 660 discloses a rack supported by a robot arm and carrying four teatcups to be attached simultaneously to the teats of the cow. The opening of the teatcups is turned upwards in the embodiment disclosed, and EP-A-213 660 does not describe that these teatcups are ever turned upside down by means of a robot arm or any other manipulating means.
WO90/07268 discloses a milking arrangement comprising an automatic handling device and a teatcup magazine. In order to facilitate the gripping of a teatcup from the teatcup magazine by a robot arm of the automatic handling device, the teatcup magazine is movable from a position outside the milking stall to a position in the milking stall beneath the animal to be milked.
EP-A-91892 discloses a milking arrangement comprising a robot and a milking machine having milking means to be attached to the teats of a cow by means of the robot. When not attached to the teats, the milking means are held by a unit being movable between the position outside the milking stall and a position within the milking stall. However, it is not clear from this document whether the unit is capable of moving the milking means in an active manner from a position outside the milking stall to a position within the milking stall in order to facilitate gripping of the milking means by the robot.